Loyola spotlights women's role in reforming New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans Center for the Study of New Orleans presents the latest installment in the Biever Guest Lecture Series, “A Woman's Work is Never Done: Reforming and Rebuilding New Orleans.” The event, which will highlight the changes women's voluntary organizations have brought to the social and political life of the Crescent City post-Katrina, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium.

"We are very happy that Pamela Tyler will be our featured speaker. Dr. Tyler is a nationally recognized scholar of American women's history and the author of the award-winning book, ‘Silk Stockings and Ballot Boxes: Women and Politics in New Orleans, 1920-1965’,” said CSNO Director Leslie Parr, Ph.D. “We are also excited that three women who have contributed so much to post-Katrina New Orleans, Ruthie Frierson, Anne Milling and LaToya Cantrell, will join Tyler for a discussion about the city and the challenges it faces."

Frierson heads Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, a non-partisan grassroots initiative born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and designed to be a voice for reform and renewal for Greater New Orleans and a better Louisiana. In 2006, the group successfully lobbied the state legislature to approve historic legislation dissolving local levee commissions and creating the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority. This new unified 16 member levee board was comprised of engineers and credible flood protection experts.

Milling is a political and civic activist and founder of the advocacy group Women of the Storm. The group gained national attention in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when several members flew to Washington, D.C., to extend a personal invitation to every member of the House and Senate to visit New Orleans and acquire the first-hand information required to shape intelligent policy decisions. In reaction to the BP oil spill, Women of the Storm unveiled the “Be the One” video campaign, created and funded by the group and featuring an array of national celebrities committed to coastal restoration. The electronic petition demanding funding for Gulf Coast restoration garnered 100,000 signatures in just over 100 hours.

Broadmoor Improvement Association President LaToya Cantrell led the fight to save her neighborhood, which saw extensive flooding as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Her group successfully fought off efforts to demolish large parts of the neighborhood following the storm. Today, more than 70 percent of the homes in the area have been restored.

For more information regarding the event or to arrange an interview, contact Janine Sheedy at 504-865-3289 or jmsheedy@loyno.edu.